Quartzsite, Arizona, is like no other place on earth. Every year, in January, thousands of RVers come here, some to spend three months, others just a few days. This small town of about 3,000 people blossoms into big city population for the winter. There are many shows and swap meets that draw visitors here, all with free admission and free parking.

Many people stay at one of the 15 RV parks here, or in one of the very inexpensive Long Term Visitor parking areas in the surrounding Sonoran desert, managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). There are also designated BLM free “dispersed camping” areas. Scaddan Wash is the name of the dispersed camping area we were in last year. It’s very close to town. We drove to the far edge of the area, away from the crowd, found a level spot and set up camp. Did I mention it’s free? Free is good.

Scaddan Wash BLM Dispersed Camping at Quartzsite

Our Neighbors at Scaddan Wash

It will be dark in the night. There are no street lamps out here. And we will be hearing the traffic of I-10 all night long as we’re very close to that.

Sunset in Quartzsite

We’re getting excellent Verizon cell phone reception, and strong LTE Internet (on my new iPad), as well as good 3G on my iPhone, but TV is nearly non-existent. We get one channel with our antenna, but it’s CBS, so that’s ok.